A cracking RPG with far more plusses than negatives. Rates very highly on the "just one more quest!" meter.
Looking at it as a stand-alone game, it's a rich and compelling world, with heaps of quests to keep you busy, and excellent voice acting and character expression. The combat system is fluid and enjoyable, and you will find yourself staying up well beyond when you planned to go to bed due to the compulsion to complete another, and yet another, quest.
Comparing it its predecessor, it's mostly an improvement. The graphics are more polished, particularly the character detail. The character expression is better, and the combat is much more fluid and flamboyant. The map is also a great improvement - when you're leaving areas the world map shows you what quests are available in each location. Creating grenades and potions is also an improvement - rather than being limited by the volume of ingredients you find in your travels, this time round once you find a resource, it is always available for potion/grenade merchants to source if you want to buy items from them. You're only limited then by the amount of gold you have to pay for them.
There are a couple of detractions in this instalment. For some inexplicable reason you can no longer change weapon sets through the radial menu - instead you have to use the 'Start' button to access your inventory and then manually 'unequip' your melee weapon and then 'equip' your ranged weapon. Seriously, what a stupid change! It's really frustrating in the heat of a battle as it completely destroys the flow of the action. Also, the reviews are spot on in that the main quest is vague and directionless at best. I still have very little idea of what I'm trying to achieve. It's lucky the side quests and gameplay are so compelling because otherwise I'd be much less enthused.
Overall, if you're an RPG tragic like me, you'll love this game. It's the best RPG release for a while now (probably since Dragon Age: Awakenings) and a perfect filler for those of us biding our time waiting for Elder Scrolls V later this year.